While in San Francisco for the Renegade Craft Fair in July, we had the pleasure of seeing the Clare Rojas: We They, We They solo exhibition at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art.  It was the most inspiring show I’ve seen in a while – I wanted to stay there forever!  If you’re in SF, you should definitely check it out!

Here are some photos of the show – hope you enjoy them!  And to learn more about Clare Rojas, you can read more about her and her folk-inspired process here.

Thanks everyone for entering our Cotton Monster giveaway! We’re totally jealous of the great weekends everyone had! The random number generator randomly generated lucky no. 70 – congrats, Susie! Email us at info(at)renegadehandmade.com with your address. Thanks everyone for playing!

Here’s a sneak peak of some of the artists participating in their first Renegade Craft Fair, Chicago!

1. Arrow Jewelry

Beautiful Nature inspired Jewelry!

Starburst Feather Earrings, Wooden Beads

2. Vintage + Deadstock + New Frames from Labrabbit Optics

(He customizes/outfits the lenses for you himself!)

Ze (Matte Tortoise/Blue) by RvS By V)

3. Fantastic Knitwear by YesJess

(I’m particularly obsessed with this Ear warmer)

Big ol’ Bow Earwarmer in Black

4. Beautiful prints by Friends Again

5. Hand layered Stitched bags by Maric Fine Goods

Jute Tote, Black Stich

Keep checking our Blog for sneak peaks and updates for the 8th annual Renegade Chicago!!!

+ Stay cool.

We’re making big changes at Renegade Handmade and we’re really excited about all of them. This past week, Chicago local Laura Berger painted our storefront taking it from nice to AWESOME.
Before!

And After!

The big reveal! You rock Laura!
See prints from Laura here. [more to come!]

Oh man, is this a great giveaway! Renegade crush Cotton Monster is giving away one of her custom Jelly Monsters AND five blockprinted patches (perfect for making a banner)! One lucky reader will win all this handmade goodness, and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment below telling us what you’re most excited about for the weekend (spoiler alert: our favorite weekend dreams include insanely beautiful Chicago weather and lots of iced coffee). We’ll pick a winner by random Sunday at noon Chicago time. Good luck!!

Today, friends, we bring you one of our favorite Craft Crush subjects, Jennifer Strunge of Cotton Monsters. The pandemonium caused here at Renegade HQ when we open one of her big boxes of monsters is second to none, and we are all guilty of giving them a good squeeze (or ten) fairly often. Read on to hear about what makes this awesome crafter tick.

When did you first start crafting?
As early as I can remember! I always loved drawing, painting, cutting and gluing, and when I was a wee bit older, my mom taught me to sew and knit. I could make pom-poms and friendship-bracelets for weeks on end! I loved the repetitive nature of string crafts and the endless possibilities of trash sculptures and paper collages….and I still do!

What is the story behind your business name?
Coming up with a name for my creations was a tough. When I started the business (almost six years ago!) one of my main sources of material was cotton bed sheets, so after toying with a few made up words that didn’t have a great ring to them, I decided to keep it simple and call it Cotton Monster. The monsters always have some cotton sheets in them (like the teeth and whites of the eyes) and other cotton t-shirts and pjs are often used, but over the years I’ve expanded to using a much wider variety of recycled clothing and bedding, stretchy non-cotton and cotton/poly blends included. But the name just stuck…it’s too late to change it now and besides, Poly-blend Monster doesn’t have the same ring to it!

What is your creative process?
I work pretty intuitively. Sometimes I will doodle new ideas for characters, and then attempt to create something with similar aspects in cloth. It doesn’t always work the first time, so I’ll try a different technique or cut and try it again. Often times I come up with new ideas for creatures just by sewing and stuffing, then un-stuffing and re-sewing! I am very inspired by cloth and sometimes let the shape or stretch of a material help dictate the final outcome. And when all else fails…add more eyeballs!

Do you have a best seller?
The Little Monster breed is the most consistent best seller. They have all the charm of the Big Monsters with bulging eyes and gap teeth, but in a smaller, cute package! Still totally huggable!

Are you working on anything new that you’re particularly excited about?
I am pretty in love with my new Von Katz Family, somewhat proper looking kitty cats with collared shirt and fabric buttons, inspired by my own two fat cats, Fleur and Dinah! Also I’ve been aiming to make some smaller, simpler monsters that I think are pretty rad, including the new Little Buggers and Sea Squirmies!

Who are your favorite artists and designers?
Its hard to pick favorites, but…I am madly in love with the work of graffiti artists Os Gemos, twin brothers from Brazil who paint awe inspiring murals and make crazy large scale installations. I love their style, vision and their amazing use of pattern! I also love following the work of my old classmate Jen Stark who works magic with cut up construction paper. And right now I’m smitten with Paulette Edition, the simple yet stunning prints and design of Iris Schwarz.

What’s a typical working day for you?
I start my day with a giant jar of tea while I check emails and catch up on some blog reading. Then I head upstairs to my attic studio where I work on cutting, ironing and sewing clothes and bed linens into monsters! I work on these creatures mostly one at a time, spending time picking out colors for each one, and sometimes only making 2-4 a day (they are pretty intricate beasts!) Occasionally I’ll do some assembly line work, sewing up rows of teeth or eyeballs. I pack up monsters to ship, take them to the post and maybe swing by a thrift store. Some days I’ll break early to work an hour or two at the rec center with kiddos doing arts and crafts, then home again for dinner! Often my day will end watching a movie or hanging out with friends while doing some hand-work, sewing up monster butts or stuffing eyeballs!

Can you tell us something silly about yourself?
After a few hours of NPR news I’ll put on a mix of my favorite Pandora stations while I’m working in my studio. Sometimes when a really good song comes on I’ll assist a Cotton Monster in doing an interpretive dance in the mirror. Hey, you’ve got to entertain yourself when working alone all day!

Thanks, Jennifer, you’re awesome! See more Cotton Monster magic here and here.

Hot damn, look at what’s happening at Renegade Handmade! Renegade favorite and local artist Laura Berger is putting her stamp on our storefront. Do we love the ninjas? Yeah, we really love the ninjas. We’ll show you the finished product soon, but we wanted to give you a li’l sneak peek in the meantime.

Thanks, Chicago, for making this a gorgeous day to be working outside.

Supplies on the sidewalk.

Seriously, we love these guys.

1. Cotton Monsters Drawing. No, Thank You!
2. An Owly Shadow puppet perfect for guarding our goods!
3. Lovely, lovely little collaged birthday card from Amber Brown. She’s one of our craft crushes!
4. Elementary school photo of a certain Renegade insider. Any guesses?
5. Kate Pugsley post cards.
6. This always makes me chuckle. It’s a great photo of Sue and Danny that is captioned “Dan and Sue Daly”. [They're not really married].
7. Calico postcard and a Santa sub card from Brian and Lynnea of Squid Ink Kollective.
8. More great birthday cards from Little Korboose and Sloe Gin Fiz. Thanks a bunch!
9. I tried to write a little thank you to our first store intern, Jessica, but got into the lettering so much that I misspelled her name. Sorry Jessica!
10. One last birthday card from our neighbors at Green Heart. They brought us this great little hand-carved stone owl that now sits with us at the front desk. Thanks neighbor!

Good day!